Unbelievable

"Given what audiophiles do believe, is this really a surprising statement?"

I would like not to, and in general do not, believe in such claims. But I do run into a problem.

There is a product that sounds fine, any product but you could use these Yamaha speakers as an example. Someone designed and produced it way better than I could ever dream of. That person claims something this "outrageous" and I want to dismiss it. Well, if that person is just making things up, snake-oiling it, why on Earth does her/his product sound good then? She/he may know a thing or two about designing/making it that I do not.

So I give up beating the truth out of it. I give some benefit of the doubt to the designer/manufacturer and just use the product as intended. In the end, why would I even care if it is the paint or not?

😘 You're so sweet, glib-one 👍

Yes, from the record all the way to the speakers there is MUCH great engineering, designing and manufacturing that brings us the great sound we love and keep's us coming back for more!!

Some comments can easily compete for award in utmost nonsense:
" All six external surfaces of the enclosure have a glossy black piano finish created using the same dedicated paint, primer, and polishing processes used for Yamaha’s renowned grand pianos. The uniform and hard membrane further increases the overall rigidity of the enclosure, and at the same time it suppresses fine vibrations, contributing to the bright sound and significantly enhanced signal-to-noise performance."

Audio Machina (no relation to your humble scribe) builds speaker cabinets from solid billets of aluminum and Rockport is no slouch at speaker cabinet building, applying shipbuilding engineering principles to speaker cabinetry. The Rockport Hyperion tips the scales at 500 lbs per side. That’s a lot of inertia, gentle readers.

Speaking of Robert Harley, the best stereo system he ever heard is.....

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-best-stereo-system-ive-ever-heard-1/